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Events documented by this source.
May 1, 1917
"It was on 1 May 1917 when I said goodbye to my squadron in the morning and flew to Gr. H.-Qu. I sat in the back as Franz. Our first stop was Cologne. This is the first holiday...
May 2, 1917
"The next day, I had to introduce myself to Hindenburg and Ludendorff. As usual, Hindenburg was swamped with civilians and uniformed personnel during visiting hours, so I spoke lit...
May 3, 1917
"At noon the next day, I was with the Emperor. It was exactly as I had imagined. I cannot imagine that I would play a good role as an aide-de-camp, and therefore admire Count Dohna...
May 3, 1917
‘In the evening, I was invited to Hindenburg's residence again. No fewer than eight Pour Le Mérite knights were seated at one table. I will probably never see so many of them toget...
May 4, 1917
‘The next day, I visited the Empress in the afternoon. The feeling was similar to that with Hindenburg: here was a charming elderly lady, whom one could compare to an old aunt or o...
June 10, 1917
‘On 10 June, I reported back to the ’Kogen" from my trip to the Orient, which I had not taken. On the same day, the King of Bulgaria was at headquarters, and I had the opportuni...
July 6, 1917
"On a wonderful day (6 July 1917), I went on a fighter mission with my squadron. We had been flying around between Ypres and Armentières for quite a while without really getting in...
July 15, 1917
"For a while, I had set up my field of activity close to the city of Courtrai and had been working there for quite some time. Then, around mid-July, the following happened: The Eng...
October 18, 1917
"Fritze Prestien, an old flying ace, got married. I was invited to the wedding. It took place at the home of his parents-in-law, who live at the court of the Duke of Coburg-Gotha....
September 29, 1917
"Only a few mortals are privileged to hunt one of these animals. I now count myself among those few. It is a very unfortunate fact that this rare game is slowly but surely dying...
January 1, 1918
"The Commander-in-Chief East had given me permission to shoot a deer in the Bialowiczer Forest. At the time of the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, around New Year's Eve 1917/1...
February 17, 1918
"On a beautiful February day, I finally realised my long-held plan to ascend in a tethered balloon. A young gentleman from my squadron who shared the same desire joined me. We drov...
April 4, 1918
"Air combat in this world war is the remnant of chivalrous duelling. A hundred years ago, the leader of an army stood on a commander's hill, directing the battle from there and, if...
August 5, 1914
"Dear Mum! How are you all doing in these turbulent times? You are certainly safest in Schweidnitz. I am now on my third night on patrol in Russia. There are no German troops ah...
August 16, 1914
Unfortunately, I rarely have time to write, and when I do, it is only briefly. Therefore, please do not be concerned if you do not hear from me for eight to fourteen days. I have n...
August 29, 1914
"Dear Mum! I want to briefly describe to you what I have experienced here in the West. – Before the army's deployment was complete, it was of course quite boring. We were unload...
September 12, 1914
"Thank you very much for your last two cards dated 21st and 24th. The post arrives very irregularly. I received the card dated 24th eight days before the other one. I also received...
September 22, 1914
"Dear Mum! I have some good news to share with you. Last night, I received the Iron Cross. How are things in Lemberg? Here's some advice: if the Russians come, bury everything y...
October 11, 1914
"Dear Mum! The post is about to go out, so I wanted to quickly send you a greeting. I've had quite an eventful few days. I almost lost my life, but luck was on my side once agai...
November 1, 1914
"Dear Mum! A car has just arrived here, loaded with the first parcels, including two from you to me. It's the fur coat and a small parcel containing my gloves. The fur coat is m...
November 2, 1914
"Dear Mum! We are now lying in shifts like the infantry in the trenches, with the French two thousand metres in front of us. It's quite boring in the long run, because lying the...
December 15, 1914
"Dear Mum! I've been sitting in front of Verdun for three months now. Nothing changes here. Last night we were playing cards when another shell landed on the roof of the house n...
January 15, 1915
MvR appointed Ordonnanzsofficier of the 18th Infantry Brigade
March 15, 1915
"Dear Mum! Now I finally have enough physical activity. All the days I don't spend in the trenches, I spend hunting. I'm quite proud of my hunted prey, three wild boars. I'll te...
April 6, 1915
"Dear Mum! Thank you very much for the lovely Easter eggs. We enjoyed them very much in the shelter amid the thunder of cannon fire. Things have been pretty lively here lately....
June 1, 1915
"Dear Mum! The days at home were very nice, but unfortunately too short. I was with Dad until eleven o'clock in the evening. He looks more youthful in his uniform than anyone el...
June 6, 1915
"Dear Mum! I have finally arrived here. The 7th Air Force Replacement Unit has a huge apparatus for training us. There are thirty of us, all of whom are to be trained as observe...
November 2, 1915
"Dear Mum! The new flying gloves have just arrived. You can hardly imagine how happy I was to receive them. Thank you very much indeed. As you know that I am very fond of change...
January 11, 1916
"Dear Mum! Since I was in Schwerin for New Year's, I haven't flown once. Here in Berlin, it rains constantly, which means we can't get anywhere. And I would love to be outside r...
April 27, 1916
"Dear Mum! Just a quick note to share some good news: take a look at the army report from 26 April 1916! One of the planes my machine gun has on its conscience."
May 3, 1916
"Dear Mum! Thank you very much for your birthday wishes. I had a very nice birthday here. In the morning, I had three very thrilling dogfights, and in the evening, I sat with Ze...
June 22, 1916
"Dear Mum! What did you say about Immelmann's death? In the long run, everyone believes in it – even Boelcke. The commander of Lothar's fighter squadron also didn't return from...
July 6, 1916
"Dear Mum! A few days ago, I crashed my Fokker. The spectators were quite astonished when I crawled out of the wreckage completely unharmed after quite a while. My good friend Z...
October 5, 1916
"Dear Mum! On 30 September, I shot down my third Englishman. He crashed down in flames. Your heart beats a little faster when the enemy, whose face you have just seen, plunges d...
October 18, 1916
"Dear Mum! We've had bad weather here constantly, but I still shot down my fifth Englishman yesterday."
November 25, 1916
"Dear Mum! I send you my warmest birthday wishes and hope that this will be your last birthday during the war. My eleventh Englishman is Major Hawker, twenty-six years old and c...
January 27, 1917
"Dear Mum! You are surely wondering why I haven't written. So much has happened in the meantime that I don't know what to write first. I have become commander of Fighter Squadro...
March 26, 1917
MvR schreibt seine Mutter
April 23, 1917
"Dear Mum! I plan to come home at the beginning of May, but first I want to go on a capercaillie expedition, to which I have already been invited and am very much looking forwar...
May 9, 1917
" Dear Mum! I'm sure you're very angry with me for being in Germany for almost eight days now without writing to tell you where I am. I'm here in Freiburg on a capercaillie and...
June 18, 1917
"Dear Mum! Now that I'm back here, I'm continuing to work hard. I've just shot down No. 53. In Kreuznach, on the way back, I was invited to visit S. M. again, where I met the Ki...
July 25, 1917
"Dear Mum! Thank you very much for your lovely letter, which I was really happy to receive. It's wonderful that Lothar is doing so well again, but he should make sure he recover...
August 28, 1917
"I am very happy about Lothar's health. However, under no circumstances should he be allowed to return to the front until he is physically back to full strength. Otherwise, he will...
September 30, 1917
I was delighted about Lothar's sudden recovery. After the holidays, we can get back to giving the English a hard time, and I'm in the same squadron as Lothar. My haul over the last...
December 11, 1917
‘There is very little activity here at the moment, which makes it terribly boring. Today I am travelling to Speyer to visit an aircraft factory. I intend to spend Christmas here wi...
January 15, 1918
"You must be wondering why you haven't heard from me for so long, but that's always a sign that I'm doing well. In this case, however, I have experienced a great deal. As Lothar al...
March 23, 1918
"You have now received my telegram informing you of Lothar's fall. Thank God he is doing very well. I visit him every day. So please don't worry about anything. He is already doing...
May 7, 1917
"It had just become known that the English had put a bounty on my brother's head. Every pilot over there knew him because he was still flying a red-painted plane on his own at the...
April 15, 1917
"Over time, you end up on many fronts. What I am about to tell you took place at Cambrai. In beautiful weather, my brother and I flew alone to the front. Explosions can be seen in...
April 23, 1917
‘Lothar recounts: “After the tenth kill, we received a picture of my brother with his signature at the squadron. I had earned and received this just three days earlier.”’
April 29, 1917
"A glorious, hot April morning! We are standing in front of our birds, waiting for a report. Then the telephone rings. Busy air traffic south of Arras! A nod to the launch officer,...
June 16, 1917
"Manfred was also extremely attached to his famous red bird. He shot down nineteen to fifty-two enemies with this machine. One day, Schäfer also wanted to fly the red bird. When he...
May 18, 1917
'Lothar writes: When Manfred achieved his fiftieth aerial victory, he was summoned to the Grand Headquarters. He quickly shot down his fifty-first and fifty-second targets in one f...
April 13, 1917
"Lothar writes: The squadron was divided into two groups, which meant that half the squadron always flew together. My brother flew as squadron leader, sometimes with one group, som...
April 23, 1918
‘The English Marshal Haig reports that eleven German aircraft were shot down in aerial combat on 21 April. It turned out that one of the aircraft shot down was that of Cavalry Capt...
April 23, 1918
"The funeral of Baron von Richthofen turned out to be an impressive ceremony. The fallen enemy was buried in a pleasant little cemetery, not far from the place where he was shot do...
April 25, 1918
"Report from the Matin newspaper dated 25 April 1918 The Death of Richthofen THE FUNERAL OF THE RED CORSAIR In Santerre, 23 April ...One of those Picardy highways, dust...
May 9, 1918
‘Report from ’Paix" dated 9 May 1918 The British paid their respects to the remains of the German ‘ace’ From L'Echo de Paris: The funeral of Captain von Richthofen was hel...
April 23, 1918
'Andre Tudesq, special correspondent for the Parisian newspaper ‘Journal’ on Richthofen's funeral Before the funeral, we wanted to pay our last respects to the mortal remains of...
April 21, 1918
"Letter from Lieutenant Hans Joachim Wolff to Lieutenant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen Airport, 25 April 1918Dear Richthofen!I still can't believe it's true. It feels like I've ha...
April 27, 1918
‘How Richthofen fell. Dr. Max Osborn in the ’B. Z.Am Mittag"Report by war correspondent Dr. Max Osborn(From the ‘B. Z. am Mittag’ of 27 April 1918)On the Somme, 24 April 1918By cha...
April 23, 1918
"How Richthofen fell (From a Special Correspondent) Captain von Richthofen, the German airman, was killed while trying to break down our airial defences in the Ancre region in o...
April 23, 1918
"The squadron of Cavalry Captain Baron von Richthofen, consisting of approximately thirty aircraft, flew over the English lines on the Somme on Sunday. After Richthofen had driven...
April 23, 1918
"War correspondent Scheuermann writes in the Tägliche Rundschau: At the Richthofen fighter squadron, 23 April On Sunday morning, Richthofen took off on a combat mission with...
April 23, 1918
"(Official) Berlin, 23 April On the occasion of the heroic death of Cavalry Captain Baron von Richthofen, the following obituary appeared in the ‘Verordnungsblatt für die Luftst...
April 23, 1918
"In the Main Committee of the Reichstag Berlin, 23 April In the Main Committee of the Reichstag this morning, during the discussion of the Reich Army budget, Representative Müll...
April 23, 1918
"In the Reichstag, Vice President Dr. Paasche commemorated the heroic death of Cavalry Captain Baron von Richthofen: "A feeling of warm sympathy has been aroused in millions of...
April 25, 1918
"General von Hoeppner to the Vice-President of the Reichstag WTB. Berlin, 25 April The Vice-President of the Reichstag, Privy Councillor Dr. Paasche, has received the following...
April 24, 1918
Dear Mr. von Richthofen, What had long filled us with anxious concern—the possibility of losing your heroic eldest son—has now become a reality. I personally made contact with h...
May 5, 1918
"Memorial speech by Dr Bülow at the funeral service at the grammar school in SchweidnitzHonourable attendees!We are now living in an enormously significant, perhaps the most signif...
April 29, 1917
"A description by the Berlin correspondent of the Allgemeines Handelsblad The reporter observed the flirtatious manoeuvres of an English pilot who, enveloped by the bursting shr...
December 2, 1917
"Richthofen as a superior and comrade. By F. W. Lübbert, Leunant, Jasta 11I was filled with joy and pride when I received the news in December 1917 that Cavalry Captain von Richtho...
August 2, 1903
‘Captain Freiherr von Richthofen has not returned.’ So reports the army bulletin, succinctly and bluntly. So it has happened after all! What no one dared to think about has come to...
August 17, 1917
'Richthofen's friend, whom he himself had designated as his successor, once wrote the following about the Richthofens: Richthofen's father was commonly referred to as ‘the flying f...
April 2, 1918
"How Richthofen shot down his 75th. By Lieutenant Lampel By Lieutenant Lampel (From the ‘Liller Zeitung’ newspaper dated 1 May 1918) ‘Please take a seat,’ said Cavalry Captai...
September 30, 1917
"As I was travelling from Frankfurt to Berlin on the morning express train in the last days of September, a young Uhlan officer jumped onto the departing train in Gotha with acroba...
December 12, 1917
"On one of those beautiful spring days in northern France, we were standing on the street in Douai when a small, rickety car came speeding along. My friend Hoffmann raised his hand...
October 17, 1916
"In my entire life, I have never known a more beautiful hunting ground than during the days of the Battle of the Somme. In the morning, when you got up, the first Englishmen were a...